400 Parliament staff test Covid positive; Delhi records over 20,000 cases

The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic across all states is being driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant, official sources said on Saturday, citing the latest data.

New Delhi: Just ahead of the Budget Session of the Parliament, over 400 staff and security personnel working at Parliament have tested positive for COVID-19. Of the 1,409 people tested from Jan 4 to 8, 402 have tested positive. All the results have been sent for genome sequencing.

According to an internal message from the staff of Parliament, the staff are advised to follow the precautions as per the guidelines of the government. "There is a consolidated list of 200 Lok Sabha and 69 from Rajya Sabha and 133 allied staff who have tested positive, but we all need to take proper precautions," an internal message read. The above list does not include who were tested for COVID outside the Parliament premises

READ:Omicron variant driving third wave of COVID-19 pandemic across India: Data

The news comes on the day Delhi recorded over 20,000 new Coronavirus cases, taking the national capital's positivity rate rose to 19.60 per cent.

Several employees of both the Houses of the Parliament were put in isolation after they came into contact with their infected colleagues during work. Various officials of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are also in isolation.

READ:Study estimates 32 lakh died of Covid in India; official toll 6 times lesser

As India continued to record over 1 lakh cases, India's daily positivity rate has shot up to 9.28 per cent and the weekly positivity rate is at 5.66 per cent.

A recent order by the DDMA directed all government offices to run under 50 per cent of staff capacity and the rest will work from home. Taking the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron seriously, the Central government also exempted its staff from biometric (daily punching) for attendance.

(With agency inputs)